27.2.09

Glen Johnson vs. Daniel Judah: Friday Night Fights Main Event Round By Round

Glen Johnson is the headliner for the Feb. 27 edition of Friday Night Fights from the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. The former light heavyweight champion and 2004 Fighter of the Year takes on Daniel Judah, a man he fought to a somewhat questionable draw back in 2003.

The 40-year old Johnson is 48-12-2 and was 2-1 in 2008, with his loss coming to Chad Dawson. Judah is 23-3-3 and was 1-1 last year.

We're scheduled for 10 rounds in the light heavyweight division.

Round One

Judah is more active in the early going, with Johnson content to counter. Judah flicks the jab and throws the left to the body. Both men land head shots in an exchange. Johnson is picking off a lot of punches with his arms. Johnson lands a few counter shots as Judah covers up. A right hand comes crashing home for Johnson and Judah slumps into the ropes! He gets back up and probably only survives because it was close to the end of the round.

Franchise: 10-8 Johnson
Uatu: 10-8 Johnson

Round Two

Johnson wants the right hand again and is able to land it twice with a body shot or two mixed in. Teddy Atlas thinks Judah needs to increase the distance to have any chance. He lands a left but Johnson is firing right back. Glen goes to the body and covers up well when Judah responds. Another right to the head sets up a Johnson combination. Judah is coming forward but not landing anything too big.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Three

Nate Campbell and Jameel McCline are both in attendance. The fighters trade at very close range with nothing of consequence landing. Judah is staying busy but Johnson's punches look and sound harder. He backs Judah up with the jab. Johnson tries hooks to the head and body around Judah's tight guard. They trade again in the middle of the ring. Judah lands a nice right to the body and left to the head just before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Four

Judah is still moving well but his margin for error looks to be small. He boxes his way out of a tight spot along the ropes. Both men jab and work from very close range. Judah shakes his head as Johnson lands several shots to the arms or body. Johnson is looking for uppercuts and hooks but not landing as many flush right now. Judah scores with a right and appears to be gaining some confidence now.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Five

The announcers visit with Jermain Taylor during this round. Johnson forces Judah back with punches from both hands. Judah ducks and weaves and begins throwing back. Johnson tries more hooks as they hold their heads up against each other. Johnson ends a stalemate with rights to the head and body. Nothing too hugs is landing but Johnson is controlling the pace and distance.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Six

Judah opens this round with some energy, but as soon as the range closes, Johnson takes over with short, hard shots. His left hook to the body is possibly the only punch from either fighter that is scoring consistently at this point. Judah lowers his guard and invites Johnson in, and he's happy to oblige. Johnson continues his relentless body attack in the final 30 seconds.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Seven

Barring the unlikely possibility that Johnson runs out of gas late, I'm not sure what Judah can do to win this fight. Johnson works off the jab in the center of the ring. Left to the body for the umpteenth time. Judah ducks and counters but his punches don't have much on them. Another left to the body catches Judah's attention. Johnson lands a right and Judah lands a pretty nice counter, but that was still Johnson's round without a doubt.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Eight

Johnson turns it on early in this round. Judah may be trying to set a trap, but without the power to make Johnson pay, that's a risky ploy. Judah does some theatrics to show he's not hurt. He is still punching back, but without much effect. Both men try the body and Johnson remains much busier.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round Nine

Judah forces Johnson to chase him a bit. Glen continues to keep the jab flowing as he stalks. Judah scores to the body and backs out. Johnson throws an uppercut and two hooks. He sits down behind a few head shots and lands a right hook. Judah paws with his left and keeps circling.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Round 10

I think we'll see more of the same instead of all-out fireworks in the final round. the ref pauses things for a second due to a clash of heads. Judah is milking it, but it did look like a pretty stiff headbutt. Glen charges in and they brawl along the ropes. Ninety seconds to go and Johnson is still throwing a high number of punches. Judah deserves credit as he is still giving it his all. Both men swinging wildly (and missing) as the fight wraps up.

Franchise: 10-9 Johnson
Uatu: 10-9 Johnson

Both Franchise and Uatu scored it 100-89 for Johnson. The judges score it 99-89 and 99-90 twice, all for the winner, Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson.

Posted by The Franchise

6 comments:

uatu said...

judah actually had a decent start to the fight. he wasn't really explosive, but he was throwing a lot of punches and was showing good movement.

that big right from Glen though ought to do it

uatu said...

Glen's punches seem to have a lot more starch in them than Judah's/

Nick Tylwalk said...

I definitely agree on that. Every shot he throws looks and sounds harder.

uatu said...

I didn't think Judah would last this long after that first round. he deserves credit for staying in the fight.

uatu said...

that johnson left hook to the body is serious business.

he has been throwing it and landing it regularly and with power.

uatu said...

Glen and Nate Campbell are similar fighters.

Rugged, strong, fighters that are all action, and are not slowing down with age.

They both bring a lot of hard shots to the body.

They will both fight anyone.
Both have had some stumbles in the loss column, but you can never count either of them out against anyone in any fight.

They both seem like great people, and are both from Florida.

They both deserve to be in big fights in the near future.